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Drunk driving fatalities continue to fall

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Drunk driving fatalities involving a driver with a Blood Alcohol Concentration above .08 (the legal limit in all 50 states) declined almost five percent between 2009 and 2010 – from 10,759 in 2009 to 10,228 in 2010. Drunk driving fatalities were 31% of all of all auto-related deaths in 2010, down from 33% in 2009.

What's significant about this is that drunk driving deaths are far outpacing the decline in auto-related deaths. More than anything else, this tells us that our efforts are working.

In 2010, the rate of drunk driving fatalities per 100,000 population was 3.3, representing a 64% decrease since 1982 and 48% since the inception of The Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility in 1991. This means that for every 100,000 people in the US in 2010, slightly more than three people were killed in a drunk driving fatal crash, a rate that has been cut almost in half over the past two decades – down 48% from 6.3 in 1991.

Since recordkeeping began in 1982, drunk driving fatalities have been cut in half – since our inception in 1991, they’ve fallen 35%. Our work over the past 20 years has produced results – and that’s why this is no time to let up in our efforts. We remain committed to fighting drunk driving.